Thigh guard



Jan. 21, 1930. H I 1,7445384 TH I GH GUARD Filed July 9, 1928 Patented Jan. 21, 1930 PATENT OFFICE CLIFFORD G. HOOD, OF MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS THIGH Application filed July 9,

This invention relates to guards and protecting devices such as thigh guards, shin guards, shoulder guards and various other kinds of athletic guards that are adapted to be positioned in or upon a garment or to be directly attached to the portion of the wearers body which it is designed to protect, the invention being herein illustrated as applied to a thigh guard adapted to be secured within a leg of a pair of football pants.

This invention has for its object to provide a guard in the form of a relatively stiff plate of curved form which is provided upon the interior thereof with flexible supporting members adapted to comfortably support the plate on the body of the user.

A further object of the invention is to provide a guard comprising a relatively light sheet metal plate provided with cushioning and supporting means upon the lnner face thereof, together with a wear resisting cushioning element along the edge of the plate to prevent injury to the wearer and to prevent excessive wear on the fabric of the garment in which the guard is securec.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention may be said to comprise the guard as illustrated in the accompanying drawings hereinafter described and particularly set forth in the appended claims, to gether with such variations and modifications thereof as will be apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention appertains.

Reference should he had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a pair of football pants having thigh guards constructed in accordance with the present inventlon attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the thigh guard.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line indicated at 33 in Fig. 2.

Fig. d is a fragmentary section on an enlarged scale showing a modlfied form of the invention. v

Referring to the accompanying drawings, a pair of thigh guards indicated by the reference numeral 1 may be attached, as shown n Fig. 1 of the drawing, to the legs of a palr GUARD 1928. Serial NO. 291,233.

of football pants indicated by the numeral 2, each guard being preferably secured in a suitable pocket formed in a pant leg.

The body portion of the guard consists of a relatively stifi curved plate 3 which should have sufficient resiliency to absorb the shocks of impact to which it is subjected, without being permanently bent out of shape. This plate 1 should also be formed of a material which will not be injuriously effected by mois ture and is preferably made of a relatively light sheet metal such as aluminum. It is desirable that the plate be made of relatively thin sheet metal and in order to impart the necessary strength to the thin metal plate, the plate is reinforced by forming therein longitudinal corrugations 4 which terminate short of the ends thereof and transverse corrugations 5 in the end portions of the plate beyond the ends of the corrugations 4.

To the rear concave face of the plate 3, there is secured a transverse supporting strip 6 formed of a suitable strong fabric such as canvas which is attached to the plate by lines of stitching 7 which extend transversely of the strip at right angles thereto and which are spaced inwardly at some distance from the side edges of the plate. The fabric supporting strip being stretched taut between the lines of attachment thereof to the plate so that the supporting strip bears on the leg of the wearer when pressure is exerted on the plate and will conform to the shape of the leg when pressure is exerted on the plate, the ten sion of the strip bowing the plate sufhciently to allow the strip to conform to the leg.

On the inner face of the plate, along its en tire margin, there is secured paddii'ig material preferably in the form of a felt padding strip 8 which extends past the edge of the plate and is folded over the edge thereof. The cross strip 6 extends to opposite side edges of the plate and its opposite ends lie beneath the padding strip 8 which is secured in place by stitching 9 along the margin of the plate which passes through the portions of the strip 8 lying upon opposite sides of the plate, through the plate 3 and also through the cross strip 6 at the ends thereof. The curveture of the plate is such that the felt padding will substantially conform to the leg of the wearer so as to form a comfortable support for the plate. The felt strip 8 thus not only serves as a padding but also prevents the edges of the plate from wearing through the fabric of the pants in which the guard is mounted. If the guard is subjected to excessive pressure or to an impact upon the outer face thereof, the guard is pushed inwardly until the transverse supporting strip 3 presses against the leg of the wearer and is bowed outwardly to conform to the shape of the leg, the plate having sufficient resiliency to provide an effective cushioning of the impact.

As shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing, a felt padding strip 8 may be provided which lies along the margin of the inner face of the plate 3 with its outer edge adjacent the outer edge of the plate. In order to prevent the edges of the plate from wearing through the fabric of the garment in which the guard is mount-- ed, a wear strip 10 of tough pliable material such as rubberized fabric or fabric reinforced rubber is secured over the edges of the plate. A binding strip 11 is preferably secured over the outer edges of the padding strip 8 and over the outer edges of the plate upon which the wear strip 10 is secured, the binding strip 11, Wear strip 10 and padding strip 8 being secured in place by stitching 12 passing through the strips and through the plate 3 adjacent its marginal edge.

By reason of the fact that the guard plate is formed of metal, the guard will not be inj uriously affected by moisture, which is highly important since football games are often played in the mud and the suits of the players become soaked with water.

Furthermore, the resilient construction of the guard insures protection against injury and a minimum of discomfort to the wearer.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the particular form of apparatus shown and described, and the particular procedure set forth, are presented for purposes of explanation and illustration and that various modifications of said apparatus and procedure can be made without departing from my invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An athletic guard comprising a relatively stiff but resilient metal plate of transversely curved form, a fabric strip extending transversely of the plate on a chord of the transverse curve intermediate the ends on the inner concave side of the plate, said strip being attached to the plate inwardly of the side edges and a strip of padding material lying upon the inner face of the plate along its margin, outwardly of the lines of attachment of the fabric strip to the plate.

2. An athletic guard comprising a relatively stiff but resilient metal plate of transversely curved form, said plate being stiffened by longitudinal corrugations terminating short of the ends thereof and transverse corrugations beyond the ends of the longitudinal corrugations, a. strip of padding material secured upon the inner concave face of the plate along the margin thereof, and a transverse supporting strip secured to the inner face of the plate inwardly of the marginal padding and extending across the inner concave face of the plate intermediate the ends thereof.

3. An athletic guard comprising a relatively stiff but resilient plate of transversely curved form. a fabric strip extending transversely of the plate intermediate the ends thereof on the inner concave side of the plate and attached to said plate along lines extending transversely across the strip and spaced inwardly from the sides edges of the plate, said strip being stretched taut between the lines of attachment to the plate and serving to support the plate on the body of the wearer, and padding material secured to the inner face of the plate along the margin thereof outwardly of the line of attachment of said fabric strip.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

CLIFFORD C. HOOD. 

